Prep Basketball: Concord girls 52, A.L. Brown 47

By David Shaw

dshaw@salisburypost.com

CONCORD — A.L. Brown’s girls basketball team stumbled across the finish line Friday night.

The Wonders closed their SPC regular season with a 52-47 loss to visiting Concord — and that’s not even the bad news. Brown also lost starting guard Bianca Smith, a do-it-all senior who suffered a sprained ankle in the waning seconds and is questionable for next week’s conference tournament.

“We have two other girls with torn ACL injuries who’ve been out the whole year,” first-year coach Mike Wolford said after the Wonders (12-11, 7-7) lost their their third straight and settled for fifth place in the league standings. “This isn’t an ideal situation.”

A.L. Brown also played without point guard Megan Shue, who sprained an ankle during Thursday’s practice — putting four of its top seven players on the shelf.

“I know they’re decimated by injuries,” said winning coach Angela Morton. “They still made us play hard. You have to if you want to come in here and win on Senior Night.”

The Wonders had the upper hand in the early going, surging to a 20-12 lead after Smith drove the left side for her second consecutive layup with 2:16 remaining in the first half.

“We came out ready to play — and it showed,” senior Sara Tuttle explained. “We had all this energy. But after halftime that energy went away.”

Actually, it began in the closing moments of the first half when Concord pulled within 20-18 on a 3-pointer by Alleson Briggs (22 points).

“She’s got that soft shooting touch,” said Morton. “She’s been clutch for us all season.”

A.L. Brown yielded its final lead after Tuttle sneaked in for a backdoor layup early in the third period. Three-balls by Emia Black, Daneille Foard and Briggs gave the Spiders a 31-25 edge late in the quarter. The hosts rallied in the fourth quarter, sparked by freshman Aitana Grant’s eight points, and drew as close as 47-44 when Endia Cannon knocked down a 3-pointer with 37 seconds to go. “Our heads were down,” said Grant, who also beat the third-quarter buzzer with a long bank shot. “But I tried to keep mine up.”

Wolford, to his credit, didn’t offer excuses. He and his staff simply made the most of a difficult predicament. “It’s been like this all year so we’re kind of used to it,” he said.

CONCORD (52) — Briggs 22, E.Black 11, N.Black 11, Floyd 5, Foard 3.

A.L. BROWN (49) — Cannon 11, Tuttle 10, Grant 10, Smith 8, Raper 5, Brice 3, Lane, Vernon, Grier.

Concord 6 12 15 19 — 52

A.L. Brown 8 12 9 18 — 47